The no back set is fine as long as the QB draw is in the playbook, even if it's just an audible at the line. If you can get the defense to spread out enough the middle can be wide open, which it was on both 2nd and 4th down

200 yards rushing and with the game on the line at the ONE YARD LINE, you decide that now is the time to let your backup QB off the leash and have him throw?! Shitty play calling, that game should've been yours, STL

But to run that play with 5 wide? At least make the defense respect the run they'd been so poor at defending all game. Playaction, or an inside draw, something other than a corner fade against that secondary.

Oh yeah, I agree. We regularly go shotgun/5-wide on 3rd and 1's and it's just stupid. I'd rather see the Wildcat than 5 wide in that situation.

Tavon Austin end around with an option pass? Flee flicker to a TE/FB? Carolina ran a play last year(?) on the goal line where the OLine stood straight up on the line and the defense couldn't tell where the ball was. You have to have a play or two that you haven't shown that is better than what we ran on 3rd and 4th there.

I was really hoping Stacy was gonna sweep back or something after going out wide, but nope they decided he was Darren Sproles at that moment and just threw it to him. St. Louis fans deserved better than that, with a competent play call you could have upset one of the best teams in football.

I think if Stacy hadn't been hurt, they'd give it to him for that play. As it stands, Richardson looked to just be a "run it up the middle" guy, which just wasn't going to work on that. I still don't know why you wouldn't keep a back to help pick up the blitz, or set up a quick outside pass though. Very odd decision to go out on that play.

I seriously can't remember ever feeling this down after a win. Even our crappy games earlier in the year, it was early enough that I could brush it off easily with "We just have some work to do."

It's week 8. The line has worked together for more games than the starters did, and we have seen no improvement from week to week. If Okung can't actually come back for the playoffs, we're fucked. Not long ago I thought Percy would be nice to have. Now I don't think we can beat the Saints or 49ers without him. That offense was fucking miserable.

I'm not sure why you're expecting a stopgap cobbled-together line to "improve from week to week". This is maybe only about 10% worse than everyone thought it would be, and the Seahawks are somehow 7-1. This line was never going to not suck. When the rest of the line is in and Harvin is back, things should look much better.

And before the bye, after which we should be at full strength, we have the Bucs and the Falcons, both winnable games. If the Seahawks hit the bye week at 9-1 with Okung and Giac out most of the season, that has to count as a win.

I'm not sure why you're expecting a stopgap cobbled-together line to "improve from week to week".

Mostly? Optimism. But also 2011, where the line was a hodgepodge all season yet did manage to improve over the course of the season. And because with players so young, every single week of practice adds a significant amount of experience. Cable constantly talks about the guys getting experience working together. A line with McQ at LT was never going to not suck, as you say, but this line doesn't suck. It's competing for the worst in the league. Screw blocking, half the time they couldn't even manage to get in the way.

Yes, I think we make the playoffs even when we're playing like this. But I have higher aspirations than that, and we're simply not playing like a team who can beat playoff caliber teams right now. You say "when" the line comes back, but it's not when. It's "if". Breno wasn't supposed to miss a game. Then they thought he'd only miss one game. Now it's week to week. Okung's injury was potentially season-ending. The fact that he was designated to return doesn't mean he's guaranteed to return. And worse than that, if he does come back there's a good chance he won't be 100%. Foot ligament tears can be easy to aggravate when the guy weighs 300lbs.

If this team can't compete at a high level without Okung, we're in a very dangerous spot.

I know the Rams had 8 men in the box a lot, but yes, the whole game, I was like "don't we have a running back on this team? I'm pretty sure I vaguely recall handing the ball off to some guy in past games... hmmm..."

(I was also with Gruden, being critical of 2 QB keepers followed by a pass when we approached their goal. Really weird play calling, IMO... just happy Wilson escaped the game without injury.)

It makes sense. They came into the game expecting the Seahawks to run away with it. But after seeing that the Rams had an excellent chance of beating Seattle, niner fans got all giddy and excited until their hopes of a division ranking tie was shot down at the end. That is why a lot of them are incoherently pissed off.

The brain damage he suffered was so severe that it warped the space time continuum so that it happened before the hit, causing Tavon to lower his head and jump into it, in order to keep the balance of the universe from falling into the hands evil.

Look, Schotty will get killed for this game and he should. Our defense went crazy tonight, they were beast. I cannot understand having Kellen Clemens throw the ball 31 times, and at least another 5 called plays from the run I remember and his sacks.

Far and away was the 3rd and 4th down at the end of the game. Empty backfield? After running the ball for 199 yards, for 5.4 an attempt, we only run it once on the goal line? How can you put the ball in Clemens hands at the end there? Utterly ridiculous. I dont understand how this offense can have any faith in Schotty.

Don't the rams have one the worst rush defenses in the league? I get throwing when they have 8 in the box, but that doesn't mean completely give up on it. Especially when the defensive ends for the rams are flying off the ball. Hell run a draw.

I feel the offensive game plan for the Seahawks was not good. Should be thankful coming out with a win.

But at least you made it to the Super Bowl. This was our bright spot, our silver lining. Our starting QB is out for the season. We're not the team we thought we were. We have arguably the worst play calling in the universe. Yeah, I'd rather lose the Super Bowl and come back as a contender then have almost no positives on your team.

When are we going to listen to Carolla and extend the uprights? Not that they would've helped in this scenario with that rocket of a kick, but one of these times, its going to be a huge factor that is one of the easiest to fix.

Well, we commited way to many damn penalities that either ruined the few drives we WERE starting, or allowed the Rams to escape a 3-17 (GODDAMMIT BROWNER WHY DO YOU ALWAYS DO THIS ON THIRD AND LONG)

Darrel Beville seemed to be in a contest with the Rams OC to see who could win the most retarded playcalling award for the game and he was going to win to before the Rams OC went for Sexy Rex on the Goal line.

Our o-line cannot stop elite pass rushers, or good pass rushers, or average pass rushers, and they are inconsistent against bad pass rushers.

That being said, the Rams pass rushers are really fucking good.

To bash Beville again. WE RAN MARSHAWN LYNCH ONLY EIGHT FUCKING TIMES! THE BEST RUNNINGBACK IN THE NFL OUTSIDE OF ADRIAN PETERSON AND MARSHAWN LYNCH RAN THE BALL ONLY ONE MORE TIME THEN RUSSELL WILSON GOT SACKED

Fortunately Russell Wilson managed to work a little magic, and Golden Tate carried our entire offense on our back this week.

Bruce Irvin continues to really impress me at the linebacker position and one of the big reasons we won the game by getting eight solo tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and one interception. This is also his first year EVER playing LB so this fast development is getting scary

Game balls go to Golden Tate and Earl Thomas with all of those clutch goal line tackles. I honestly think Earl Thomas is the DPOTY

No idea why we didn't use them at the end there. I mean, with 20 seconds left, why not? if they score, we can have two plays after the kickoff, or three if it's faircaught or whatnot. If we would've stopped them, then we get the ball with 15ish seconds, and could pretty easily run the clock out.

You've already taken so much tonight... why must you enjoy this? The highest of highs last week (not including the Carolina game) is only matched by the suffering of this week. Give us a day to grieve.

But I always get scared when the Seahawks face backup QBs.. We suck vs backup QBs. I dont think its by a lack of trying or effort, I just think we struggle to gameplan for a guy who wasnt supposed to be the guy

Glad we won, in the end the goal is by any means necessary to win especially on the road.. 5 of our last final 8 games are in SEA and we're 4-1 on the road now

Tell me this, what is the single strongest unit of the Seahawks? Heres a hint, THEY HAVE A CATCHY NICKNAME Legion of Boom. Their fucking DBs are the best in the game. Why, with one play would you go no-back?? AND!!!! one of your "receivers" is your clearly hurt RB. You know, the RB you were not using the past 5+ plays cause he was wincing on the sideline? Yea, that guy is on the field. So you go no-back, with a decoy running a route against perhaps one of the best DB groups in the league. OF COURSE THEY ARE GOING TO BLITZ!!! Why not??? They can go man against everyone of your second rate WR and TE. They only need 4 of their excellent DBs to cover your 5 (one is obviously a decoy) receivers leaving 7 to rush your 5 lineman.....who haven't been able to pass block all game.

Unpopular opinion: I enjoyed watching this game. Yes, the enormous amount of penalties was absurd and ruined it a lot of the game, but I really enjoyed watching the Rams defense. I realize the Seattle offensive line is really bad (and I know a lot about bad offensive lines..), but they had a game plan: let their front 7 dominate Wilson and keep Beast Mode in check, and it worked. They dared Wilson to throw and besides the Tate reception, the lack of strong receivers made him and the offense very ineffective. Gotta give credit where credit is due, they took advantage of where Seattle is weak and exposed them. It's a shame that the Rams couldn't pull out the win.

EDIT: Also, props to Stacy for having such an incredible game. He is really fun to watch. Anyone know why Richardson had those last few carries at the end of the game?

One thing that always annoys me is that when two teams both put up scores in the 40s on each other it's an incredible game against two great teams, but when two defenses both dominate the game everyone gets all pissy about how terrible they are and what a bad game it is.

I don't think the Rams ever announced Stacy having an injury, but he was grimacing big time and he had to get an ankle taped up.

We'll, you've got a team that no one outside of the PNW cared about (and let's be honest, plenty of people in the PNW didn't even care about) just 2 years ago, all of the sudden getting incredibly lucky with a 3rd round QB and going 7-1.

At the same time, perennial favorites with huge fan-bases are sucking it up.

Rams go pass-wacky for no reason at the goal line after running the ball down their throats and with time not being a factor. Not only do they throw it on three of four goal-to-go plays, they don't even try to fool the defense with play-action, they empty the backfield and basically declare they are passing. On 4th down especially, lining up in goal-line and going play action is way more likely to score than a 5-wide set with your backup QB that's not a mobile threat to score.

Aside from the play calling, both teams managed to bungle the clock situation.

Both teams holding all three timeouts, Rams run up the middle on 2nd and goal, get to the 2, setting up 3rd and Goal from the 2 as clock is ticking at 31 seconds.

Rams call time out at 31 seconds. It's going to be 3rd down.

If you score on the next play, you leave the Seahawks with 25+ seconds and 3 timeouts needing a field goal to win or tie (if you get 2 point conversion).

Let the clock run down to about 12 seconds before calling timeout and then scoring on 3rd down leaves the Seahawks only 7 seconds or so, less if there's a good squib. If you don't get it on 3rd you can take a timeout if necessary, leaving about 7 seconds for your 4th down try. Suppose there's a penalty that gives you an automatic first down at the 1, you'd get an untimed down if time expired on that penalty, but that first down is basically wasted as you get one more play. Leaving a bit of time left (12-15 seconds prior to 3rd down) gives you a shot at 3-4 plays in case of penalty.

But no, they call timeout at 31 seconds.

3rd and Goal from the 2 they get stuffed for no gain, clock is ticking. Seahawks could have called timeout with ~26 seconds left prior to the 4th down, ensuring that if the 4th down play scores, the Seahawks will have 20 seconds or so to work with needing a field goal to win or tie and still holding timeouts. Instead they let the Rams just run the clock down until they call a timeout with 4 seconds left.

In any case, the Rams blew it by calling that timeout early after 2nd down, and the Seahawks blew it by not calling timeout after third down and letting the Rams guarantee they would have no chance to answer.